Alcohol, energy drinks linked to casual sex in new study

British girls talk to a friend who is being treated in a ambulance parked outside a night spot in Cardiff city, Wales, on July 24, 2010. The Coalition government is widely expected to introduce new laws to give increased powers for local councils to curb binge drinking and to take action in areas plagued by alcohol-influenced crime and disorder. The previous government controversially introduced 24-hour licensing in 2005 when it was hoped would introduce a cafe culture society to British cities, but critics have claimed it has lead to wide spread binge drinking and a marked increase in violent disorder.

Credit:

Matt Cardy

College students who chase their alcohol with caffeine and other energy drinks are more likely to have casual sex, a new study has found. This may sound like good news if you're a debonair gentleman who falls asleep whenever you drunkenly flirt with women, but the researchers are concerned. "The results seem to indicate that AmEDs [alcohol mixed with energy drinks] may play a role in the 'hook-up culture' that exists on many college campuses," says the study's press release.

The study was conducted by Kathleen E. Miller, a senior research scientist at the University of Buffalo, Medical Daily reported.

To do the study, she surveyed 648 students at a public university. Participants who reported combining alcohol and energy drinks, such as Red Bull and vodka, within the past month were more likely to have had casual sex, and also more likely to have sex while intoxicated, according to Medical Daily.

Miller says this is a problem because intoxicated or casual sex can "increase the risk of unwanted outcomes," such as unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, assault and depression. However, one part of the study seems to contradict the pregnancy concerns: the study also found that drinkers were no less likely than nondrinkers to use condoms during sex, Science Daily reported.

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